In 2 Years' Absence, Donovan Hasn't Changed All That Much

Donovan returned to New York Friday night, nearly two years after his last appearance in this area. Despite the lengthy hiatus—or, perhaps, because of it—Madison Square Garden was not sold out. Obviously, the magnetic powers of attraction Donovan once generated so easily have diminished.

In recent interviews, he has stressed the new image he is shaping for himself—an image that presumably is quite different from that of the gentle, white‐robed Pied Piper Donovan of the past. If he's really serious, he must be having difficulty making the transition, because he came on stage looking very much as he did in his last Garden appearance, dressed in soft white kurta‐like shirt and white trousers.

The familiar Donovan flowers were all over the place, and he once again sat crosslegged upon a raised platform. Although he added a few attractive new songs (especially a sardonic little piece called “An Ordinary Family”), most of the program was devoted to familiar items like “Jennifer Juniper,” “Try and Catch the Wind” and—a guaranteed crowd‐pleaser—the group‐sing number “Happiness Runs.”

Even though the Garden acoustics were as miserable as ever (and they are particularly ineffective when called upon to create a monstrously loud reproduction of the voice of solo singer), Donovan is enough of a seasoned professional to compensate for the obvious problems caused by such an enormous auditorium. Musically he can't be faulted; his guitar playing is excellent, his voice is developing an attractive dark quality in its lower register, and his occasional harmonica playing is crisply rhythmic. His manner, however, was surprisingly diffident, and one couldn't help but wonder whether he was bored with the proceedings seemed.

Those of us who went to the Garden expecting to hear a new Donovan were clearly disappointed. After all, how long can you hang on to a dream?

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A version of this archives appears in print on November 14, 1971, on Page 79 of the New York edition with the headline: In 2 Years' Absence, Donovan Hasn't Changed All That Much. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe